Giving young kids the gift of their first flight: that's the goal each year when Wyoming's chapter of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) holds their annual Young Eagles event at the Casper Natrona County International Airport.

This year the doors opened on Saturday, September 19th at Good Aviation and Veterans Museum which is also the current home and hanger to Soaring Aviation, where airplanes receive their annual maintenance check.

To give these kids their first ride in an airplane, pilots from all over the state arrived in their small planes, eager to take them up. Rising Wings, a Casper flight school, was on scene with their popular Cirrus SR22 and Cessna 172.

A few of these kids got the chance to hold the yoke and put their feet on the pedals and make turns. You'll see one such young flyer in the video above.

Also helping out were cadets from Wyoming's Civil Air Patrol, Casper. They worked the flight line, directing the planes on the ground.

Each child that took a flight was given the title of Young Eagle, and given an official EAA flight certificate and a log book with their first flight written down and signed by the pilot who took them up.

The event's goal was to spark interest in aviation at an early age. These organizations are available year round to anyone who might want to explore the skies.

Special thanks to Tim Mandese for the videos and pictures.

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